“If I suggested we meet for a drink or asked if you’d like to go dancing, would you?”
She shook her head. “I told you, with my business, my hours, it’s almost impossible for me to make plans. To go out for…”
“For pleasure?”
“Exactly. For pleasure.” She didn’t look up at him as, with meticulous care, she refolded her napkin. “I just don’t have the time.” Go out with a client? A man with silvering hair and warm grey eyes? Whose two-thousand-dollar suit probably walked out of the latest issue of GQ? And who had exquisite taste in food and wine? And loved his daughters enough to take on planning their double wedding? I can see myself enjoying an evening with you, Jeff Sinclair. It just isn’t sensible to think about starting something with a client. Weddings are endowed with enough drama. Especially this one. It doesn’t need a fling with the father of the brides to add more complications.
“Apart from working through the details of this byzantine mess of a wedding, I’d like to spend some time getting to know Lucinda Parks. The woman, not the wedding consultant.” He took the napkin from her hand. His fingers warmed her suddenly chilly ones. “I think there’s much more to her than her clients ever see. May I call you sometime tomorrow? Check our individual schedules and plan something, even if it’s just lunch, for a start?”
Lucinda drew her hand away from his. “I have a dozen weddings in progress, and my hours are erratic. You and I will be working out a plan for your daughters, you know, and we’ll be in touch with each other almost daily. I suspect you’ll find my company begins to wear thin by the time the wedding is over. You won’t even want to hear my name. Wait until after the wedding and see how you feel about asking me out then, okay?”
He laughed softly. “You aren’t going to make this easy for me, are you, Lucinda?” He glanced around for the waiter, who quickly came with a discreet leather folder. Taking a classic Mont Blanc pen from his inner pocket, Jeff signed the tab and passed the leather folder back to the waiter. “Tell you what,” Jeff began as the waiter retreated, “we’ll combine purposes. We’ll check for suitable musicians for the wedding by going to clubs where we can compare bands. We’ll study caterers by dropping into some nice restaurants and trying out menus and meals. And, somewhere along the way, the wedding will get planned, the services engaged, and maybe I’ll learn a lot more about a beautiful woman who’s arranged a thousand weddings but never one for herself. Deal?”
She hesitated, but the temptation was more than she could resist. “No” probably was the word she should say. It just wasn’t an answer she could give. “All right. Deal.”
Chapter 2
Jeff poured a second cup of coffee as he waited for his daughters to make their pre-arranged call. He’d promised to give them his impression of the wedding coordinator and her ideas in a morning three-way visit. He had total confidence Lucinda could make the girls’ wedding all they hoped it would be, but he felt some surprise at his own attraction to the wedding planner. Since his divorce, he’d had a few women cross his path who stirred his interest, but none had become more than a pleasant interlude. Lucinda sparked something much more than awareness; she had real beauty wrapped up in her severe black suit, and a sharp brain underneath her upswept hair. He wondered what she’d look like if she unpinned the dark hair and let it wave softly around her face. Or traded that austere suit for something soft and clinging. Before he could fantasize more details, the phone rang.
“Dad!” The excitement rippled through Shelby’s greeting.
“Hello, baby.” Jeff shifted his coffee mug so he could lean back in the massive office chair and still reach it. “Are you there, too, Candy-girl?”
“I’m on, Dad. Did you meet with the wedding coordinator? Did she faint from shock? Were our complications and oddities too much for her?”
Jeff chuckled as he remembered Lucinda’s face when she saw pictures of the wedding dresses his girls had chosen. “I met with her, and she didn’t even bat an eye. Just said it should be a real unique event.”
“But can she handle it? Make it look right?” Candace, always so detail minded and concerned that everything would work out according to plan, sounded uncertain.
“I believe Lucinda will do whatever it takes to make both of you happy.”
“Lu-cin-da?” Both girls must have caught the echo of interest in his voice.
“Lucinda Parks, wedding planner extraordinaire, ladies. I believe she has imagination, dedication, and the sheer fortitude to see this thing to a successful finish. Doesn’t hurt that she’s charming and could probably make an Eskimo feel at home in a bikini in January.”
Shelby was giggling as Candace asked, “And would she happen to be beautiful and single, as well?”
Jeff knew that since Margot died, ending all prospect of a reconciliation, the girls had hoped he’d find a permanent love interest of his own. Might as well give them a little something to think about. “As a matter of fact, Lucinda is single, and probably the most beautiful dark-haired, blue-eyed forty-something lady in town. I had dinner with her last night at the Oak Room.”
“Sounds like Dad is smitten,” Shelby commented.
A quiet chuckle echoed as Candace added, “And about time, too. But don’t forget you two are planning our wedding while you’re pursuing the lovely Lucinda. Did you get anything settled besides which wine and what dessert you’d have?”
Jeff moved his coffee mug off the notes Lucinda had made and gave Shelby and Candace a summary of Lucinda’s suggestions about a tent, separate focal points, and similar but individualized décor.
“I think she’s on the right track, Dad.” Candace sounded less apprehensive as he spelled out the rough ideas. “Tell her I’m in agreement.”
“I’m on board, too,” Shelby concurred. “I don’t know how she’ll work out the processional and the music and all the other details, but I think she’s got a good starting place.”
With a short exchange of what was filling their days, and greetings to Jerry and Alan, the young men in his girls’ lives, Jeff and his daughters ended their conference call, leaving him to finish his coffee and contemplate how long he should wait before calling Lucinda.
****
Lucinda frowned over the lists and notes scattered across her desk. The Sinclair wedding was certainly more interesting than her more conventional arrangements, but it was taking a major amount of her time, as well. She paged back through her notebook of musicians and wedding selections. Until she had a definite venue and musicians engaged, the rest of her planning was at a standstill. Nothing else could be scheduled until those two items were firm. The call she’d put in to the administrative office to see if Riverside Park was available hadn’t been returned, and the park was the only place she could visualize having enough space for the party tent central to her plans. While waiting, she thumbed through a collection of wedding songs. Surely something would be suitable for the Sinclair sisters, opposite as they were. If nothing else occurred to her, there was always “Candles in the Wind,” she supposed.
Flipping through lists, she stared at title after title, till one, an old song going back to her own mother’s time, caught her eye, and she wondered how it would sound. Yes, it could be given a very traditional treatment for Candace and yet be workable for Shelby’s country theme. All she’d have to do is find the right musicians. As Lucinda reached for the phone to share the idea with Jeff, it sang out her personal Puccini ringtone.
“Jeff?” She saw his name appear on the screen. “I was just going to call you.”
“Perfect!” His warm response spread across the distance, giving her a tingle somewhere near her heart. “But I got there first. I wanted to tell you I talked to the girls, and they’re both happy with your first suggestions. They think you’re brilliant. And so do I, by the way. What were you calling about?”
This is ridiculous! I feel as giddy as one of my sillier brides. “I’ve been trying to reach the administrative office to see if we could get Rivers
ide Park for the wedding, but they haven’t returned my call. While I was waiting, I was thinking about the music for the processional. Do you think your girls would find ‘The Wedding Song,’ the Peter, Paul, and Mary piece, too old-fashioned for their taste? It would be so easy to vary the instruments and make it traditional for Candace and country for Shelby, if they’d be okay with it.”
“I remember it.” Jeff was silent for a long moment, and Lucinda feared she’d come up with a song with bad memories attached to it in his mind. “I think it sounds like a good compromise for them, but I can’t speak for the girls. How do you see setting it up?”
Lucinda picked up her yellow pad, paged to her last set of notes, and started ticking off the points. “Four musicians, keyboard, violin, flute, and guitar,” she began.
“With the guitar taking more of a country sound and the others keeping the classical air?”
“Exactly. You see how it could work?”
“I think it’s perfect, but e-mailing the girls would be the best way to get an answer. Why don’t you send them a note and then plan to meet me for lunch at the Chinese place down from your shop? Maybe you’ll hear from both the girls and Riverside Park by then. If you can free up a little time, we could drive out to the park so you can help me picture the setup. I’ll even buy you a cappuccino and a cookie.”
Lucinda took a glance out the window, where the wind was tearing at the passing overcoats. “I think I can get away for a couple of hours. I don’t have an appointment until four. I’ll see you at Wen Song’s place around twelve-thirty. And if we go out to Riverside Park, you are definitely on the hook for cappuccino and cookies.” She took a second look at the bare tree limbs bending against the wind and noted the thermometer on the bank across the street read thirty-seven degrees. “It’s going to be hard to think about a June wedding with a February storm blowing in.”
****
Even wrapped in her all-weather coat, feet in lined boots, and a wool scarf over her head and tucked into her collar, Lucinda had a hard time concentrating on the rolling park before her. Jeff’s supportive arm and presence created enough interference in her thought processes, never mind the sharp-edged wind in her face. The combination was more than distracting.
“By using the area in the center, we’ll have enough space for the largest tent I can get. It should seat the guests comfortably.” She pointed to the big oaks forming the boundary on each side. “In June, the trees will cast a nice shade over everything, and we’ll have a cool breeze coming off the river. Of course, we’ll have portable air conditioners for the tent.”
“It’s certainly breezy enough now. Too bad we can’t store up some of this nice, cool air blowing over us and save it for June, when we’ll need it.” Jeff tugged his own collar up to his ears. “How do you plan to serve cocktails and dinner? Or, in Shelby’s case, beer and barbecue? Buffet? Personally, I hate standing around with a plate in one hand and a glass in the other.”
“Most people do.” But I’ll bet you’d manage to do it with grace anyway. She spared a glance for his cashmere overcoat and scarf, elegant against the wind-battered foliage of the park. “Once the ceremony is over, we’ll send people out to two serving areas, one on each side, where they can get drinks. One will be over there, by the fountains.” She turned to point to a series of white stone pillars, in diminishing sizes, surrounded by square pools, now emptied for the winter. “We’ll have a long bar over there. I think one of my rental companies has a portable setup with pillars, to make the bar look as if it’s part of the fountain. On the other side, we’ll set up a second bar resembling an old West saloon. And we’ll keep the tent between the two areas, so the styles don’t clash. Your guests will have the choice of cocktails in a classic setting or beer in the Longhorn Saloon. While they’re having drinks and greeting the newlyweds, a team will transform the tent from wedding site to dinner site. I haven’t worked out the details for a sit-down dinner yet, but once we get a caterer involved, I’m sure the menu will fall into place.”
Jeff strolled along the fountains, then turned to come along the other side of the bare flowerbeds. “Good.” He nodded. “And the dancing after dinner?”
She led him along the stone path to a short flight of curving stone steps. Below, bordering the river, an expanse of dry grass spanned the area between two low banks of ornamental hedges. “I’ll have a dance floor set up over the grass, group small tables and chairs around it, and put a riser at one end for the musicians. We’ll get two bands—a good country group and one to play more standard American dance music—and they’ll alternate in forty-five-minute sets, perhaps with a DJ to fill in current hits between sets to make sure everyone has something to dance to.” She guided him to the far side of the area so he could see how the space would be divided. “And, of course, we’ll have wait staff circulating from the bars with drinks. I think that should take care of the dancing. And for the décor, I’m thinking we’ll move tall arrangements from the tent down here after the ceremony and use them, along with some fill-in plants, to define the dance floor. Should I send some sketches and explanation to Candace and Shelby?”
Jeff raised his hand to his eyes, blocking the thin winter sun. “I think I can see it, but it would be a good idea to get their okay. It sounds fine to me, but let’s hear the girls’ opinions.”
Lucinda tapped notes into her Tablet and nodded. “I’ll get something off to them this evening.”
“You’re brilliant, and I’m freezing.” Jeff slipped his arm around her shoulders and turned her toward the flight of stone steps. “I think I promised you cappuccino and cookies. Can I entice you out of the wailing wind and into someplace where there is heat, and we don’t have to shout over the gale to hear each other?”
“Oh, gladly. I’m almost an icicle myself.” She turned back the cuff of her glove to check her wristwatch. “But I have an appointment with a bride and her mother at four.”
Tucking her arm through his, Jeff started along the flagged path. “I’ll have you back in time, I promise.”
Once inside his sleek Mercedes, Lucinda felt warmth begin to seep back into her bones. She loosened her scarf and settled deeper into the seat. “Do you see any place the plans will clash with the girls’ ideas? If something’s not quite right, I need to know now, before we’re too far along to change things.”
“So far, I can’t see anything to worry about,” Jeff assured her. “It looks to me as if you’ve thought it through, and you’ve made some good suggestions. Shelby gets her country theme, and Candace can be as traditional as she wants to be. Whole thing scares me to death, trying to make both girls happy, but you’re just sailing along and fixing problems as you find them.”
He’s such a good dad, worrying about making his girls happy and never fussing about having to do all this. Hope they appreciate how hard he’s trying to make everything right for them. Lucinda leaned back, taking advantage of the respite between appointments. Jeff turned his car and headed back toward town.
As he negotiated the increasing traffic, Lucinda studied him through half-closed eyes. She found him as handsome at this second meeting as she had the first time she saw him. He was older, at least fifty and probably a bit more, but he was fit, trim, and carried himself like a man fifteen years younger. His dark hair had silvered at the temples, but his cleft chin was firm and, except for a fan of lines near his eyes, his face showed no sign of his years. Jeff Sinclair had been more in her thoughts than any man in a long time, creeping into her mind as she worked and slipping into her reflections just before she went to sleep. She wondered how he spent his days, where he worked that he could walk away during the day to meet her, and how it was he’d never questioned the expense entailed in producing this elaborate double wedding. She could have checked his background through a number of business sources, she supposed, but somehow it felt like prying. He’d tell her if she asked about his life, but she’d feel less like she was opening the door to a more personal involvement if he voluntari
ly talked about himself.
Unexpectedly, when they were only a mile or so from the park, Jeff turned down a side road. “Like to show you something,” he said, but offered no more explanation.
“Well, I do have an appointment.”
“Just take a minute,” he assured her.
The road curved, climbed a bit, and led into a wooded cul-de-sac. He slowed the car and stopped at the end of the lane. “See that little bit of a hill, the bare spot above the ancient oak?”
The rolling hillside was thick with trees, but rising up in the center was a level expanse where the hillside evened out. “I do. It’s probably gorgeous in the spring and summer. Not bad in February.”
He nodded. “I think it’s the prettiest part of this area.” Jeff took both hands off the wheel to point out the landscape from one side of the lane to the other. “Had to buy the whole section, from the dead pine tree clear over to that stand of oaks, to get the one piece in the center. It’s going to make a great place to build one of these days.”
One of the girls must be planning to come back here? One or perhaps, both? Though the wind was bending limbs and frost robbed the hillside of color, Lucinda appreciated the panorama before her. “I can see it would be.”
“It’s what I do, build houses, make homes for people. I’ve been looking at this area for quite a while, and when this piece came up for sale, I knew I had to have it. Signed the papers on it this morning.”
“You’re a developer? Subdivisions and that sort of thing?”
“Well, I started out as an architect, but I wound up creating a company so I could build what I want. I like to think I give people solid, ecologically responsible places to raise their families. I guess land developer is as good a title as any, but I’d rather think Greenhome is more than just land development.”
Lucinda had heard of the Greenhome Company. Almost anyone in the area probably knew of it, though she’d never heard of Jeff Sinclair as part of it. She’d had a number of clients who loved their efficient but charming Greenhome houses.
Double Wedding, Single Dad Page 2